US to continue engaging with China in foreseeable future

WASHINGTON - The United States intends to continue engaging with China in the foreseeable future despite some differences between the two countries, the White House said Wednesday.

"There are going to be some areas with China where we're able to cooperate and some areas where we're going to compete," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a regular news briefing. "And engaging with China has served this country well and it's something that we intend to do for the foreseeable future."

He added that even in the context of those engagements, the US will not "shy away from raising concerns about those areas of Chinese policy that we believe need to be changed," in reference to recent allegations that Chinese hackers attacked US federal personnel office's computer networks.

China has firmly rejected the allegations, warning Washington against jumping to conclusion about the origin of the cyber attacks as it is hard to track and identify them.

Earnest said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still investigating the case and has not at this point identified a perpetrator.

Despite some differences between the United States and China, the two countries are able to coordinate effectively in some areas, the spokesman said, citing China's participation in the ongoing talks on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

"And we value their contribution to that effort and they have acted constructively alongside other members of the international community to try to prevent Iran, through diplomatic talks, from obtaining a nuclear weapon," he said.